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I only take the database course which indeed is not difficult but so what? In any case, here is a home work exercise for you (not too difficult if you know category theory)

Homework Exercise for AC (due Dec4)

Develop the theory of normal form from the categorical point of view.1) find category theoretic definitions of the normal forms (and all relevant notions needed to express these)2) what advantages (if any) does the categorical point of view provide (e.g. when considering all normal forms for a given schema and given functional dependencies etc. etc.)3) why do so many highly intelligent people waste their time at slashdot instead of putting their superior intellect to a more beneficial use

I don't know why you were modded down. I am not sure whether you are right in each and every detail but there is an incredible amount of hypocrisy in all attempts to suppress and control teenagers sex drives. I especially like the fact that all pictures have to be reported. I am sure that the number of job applicants for clerical police work will increase.

OK. Here I go again. How many people die each year in the US because of insufficient medical care (check for "iatrogenic deaths" if you are curious). The numbers I found are 2-3 orders of magnitude larger. Now funds seem to be scarce. If it is a matter to allocate funds either to hunt down some evil bastards or to provide medical support for your fellow countrymen then I'd choose the latter. It seems you'd choose the former. I really don't get this fixation on Al Qaeda. There are more urgent issues.

Oh, then, by all means, we should have left him alone. And if he had slit your mom's throat for the deep moral offense of being a literate woman, we should really let him slide on that too, since there are people out there that have done worse. Are you even listening to yourself?

I rarely listen to myself typing. In any case, first thanks for assuming my mother is a literate woman. But why does saying there are more urgent issues and saying that stooping to the level of cold-blooded killers is wrong lead you to believe that I would condone mindless killing. I don't get it.

So basically you are saying that 'them' are right. All this civilisation stuff (laws etc.) is bullshit? I always thought that lowering yourself to the level of your evil opponent is admission that you lost.

the question why only this evil guy was treated thusly and none of the many other ones you could have chosen raises its ugly head

His direct actions, his particular role in inciting more of them of a certain type, and his un-ending proclomations about his involvement, coupled with all sorts of evidence that he's involved and not simply pretending to be that person on YouTube... that's the sort of thing that warrants specific attention. That and his group's history of killing thousands of people and active, repeated attempts to do more of the same. The recent power vacuum in AQ had this guy moving up the ladder, and we have every reason to keep shutting down the people who climb that ladder.

May I take it then that you belief that 1) you are in possession of all relevant facts 2) you are sure that the information which reached you was by no means filtered or manipulated and that 3) you did not fall for one of the oldest tricks of politics which is: we have problems so let's choose some bad guy, make him look even worse and dangerous than he is, take him out and let everyone think that we are dealing with the important issues.

I myself am most definitely not.

Also speaking in terms of evilness

his group's history of killing thousands of people and active, repeated attempts to do more of the same

this guy looks like small fry. Many 'active' politicians are much worse.

All your arguments hinge on a very strong assumption (which is unfortunately commonly claimed by Bush, Bush2.0 and followers), the assumption that you are infallible (of course usually not stated explicitly). Assuming that 1) you are in possession of all relevant facts 2) your judgement as to what is relevant and what not is perfect 3) your laws and moral values are universal you take on the role of police/judge/jury/executioner. I don't know of any case in history where these assumptions were valid.

Even if valid the question why only this evil guy was treated thusly and none of the many other ones you could have chosen raises its ugly head. If you really believe that this guy was the most dangerous current enemy of the US you are pretty naive.

Using your argument would justify anybody living close to a possible target (e.g. suspected terrorists, wallmart shoppers etc) to attack the US military in self defense.

I have no problem with him trying to make ends meet but with this being a "major" story on slashdot.

Oh, but maybe you are volunteering for taking over the development of dpkg, doing it full time, and without accepting any source of income?

No I will not (I would prefer to work on FreeBSD) but neither should he if he cannot make ends meet. If he chooses do work on dpkg fine; if he can get support for doing it even better, but don't start spamming 'news' sites with this stuff. Post it in the relevant news groups/mailing list etc.

Are you, too, thinking that Raphael doesn't need money to survive?... How generous you are!!!

This self-righteousness is really getting nauseating. There are millions of worthwhile projects to be done. Volunteer if you can, ask for support in the appropriate places and then decide if you can do it. But stop whining if people complain if you start your money drives in the wrong places.

The main reasons for me and people I know are1) cost effectiveness2) the option to modify software as needed3) no fear of lock-inAlso many 'enthusiastic' open source software proponents have never even looked at the code. In academic environments people write/use open source programs without giving much thought to who wrote something. The main points are usability and time requirements. If something is usable and can be used quickly then we use it no matter who wrote it.

Oh my god, I will go and hide for the rest of the month. I blame it all on python, lack of sleep and Fukushima. I have not used C for a year or two and now this happens. Damn. I must have caught this thinking-in-python disease.